FISITA2010-SC-P-08

ALTERNATIVE ENGINES - ADVANTAGES AND DRAWBACKS FOR

KEYWORDS – automotive, engines, environment, renewable, energy

ABSTRACT - This paper presents the use of alternative engines that started to replace classic
diesel and petrol engines, in the automotive sector. It consists of a different approach of the
advantage-drawback balance of these new engines, presenting the main steps of energy
conversion from its production to its final use: vehicles.

The attention is drawn over the secondary effects that apparently clean energy has over the
environment, showing in the same time the great confusion made between different forms of
energy stocking and the real renewable energy sources.

INTRODUCTION - The automotive industry is a vast field in which significant financial and
human resources are invested every year. The purpose is the development of new products
ready to respond to customers‟ increasing demands.

Competition between car manufacturers and their large variety of new cars involved a
continuously growing number of vehicles on the roads. As most of their engines use oil based
fuels, two effects have become crucial problems for years. One of them is the end of natural
oil reserves. This can affect human kind from economical point of view in the future decades.
It means a fast and very expensive process of passing from internal combustion engines to
alternative engines that do not use oil as basic energy source.
The second problem affects not only nowadays generations, but also the future of the planet.
Internal combustion engines generate pollution, creating massive health problems for people
and important damage to the environment.

Foreseeing these two effects, electric and hybrid cars started to be produced. Fuel cell or
hydrogen powered versions of vehicles were also tested. All sorts of batteries and
accumulators were mounted on cars to increase their autonomy and auxiliary systems, like
solar panels and regenerative brake systems, were introduced to help the car work more
efficient.
All these technological developments came to reduce or even eliminate the problems of diesel
and petrol engines and nearly all important carmakers turned their efforts to produce more
ecological vehicles.
Marketing strategies and the care for the environment determined an important sale growth of
alternative powered cars, over the last few years.

ELECTRIC AND HYBRID VEHICLES - The most popular versions of non pollutant
engines, with numerous applications are the electric engine, the hybrid engine (containing an
electric unit), the fuel cell that uses hydrogen and the internal combustion engine that uses
hydrogen as component of its fuel.
Electricity is most probable the source of energy that will contribute to the replacement of
diesel and petrol internal classic. Various forms of applications that involve electric engines
mounted on cars were tested. The most important are the electric and hybrid vehicles that are
already on the market for nearly a decade.

The electric vehicle uses an electric engine powered by a battery or an accumulator, where
energy is stored. An intense research on batteries, accumulators or super capacitors is done to
obtain satisfying performances for new vehicles.

Advantages: As main advantages there are oil independence and the zero emissions that make
these versions very popular through people who want to have a clean environment. Another
positive aspect is the reduction of noise that an electric engine offers compared to an internal
combustion engine. A very low vibration level also contributes to a higher comfort for the
passengers. Low service costs for the engine are added over the other benefits.

Drawbacks: The biggest problem of these vehicles is their autonomy. Accumulators of any
kind do not offer a very good autonomy. This is why attention was drawn over super
capacitors, used to store electric energy for a longer period of time, in a larger quantity and in
less space. But none of these is yet enough to equalize a fuel tank. Top speeds are also
difficult to reach.
The space reduction and the mass of these batteries is also a disadvantage. And over all, their
price is higher than in case of an average car.

The electric hybrid vehicles use two power units, a classic petrol or diesel engine and an
electric engine powered by a battery. These units work together, the electric engine works at
car start and low speeds, where usual emissions would have a high level, while the classic
engine starts to work at higher speeds. When the car works on conventional fuel, the batteries
of the electric motor are continuously recharged, so it can work when the vehicle reaches low
speeds again. The main power train elements of such vehicle are shown in Figure 1.

Figure 1. The power train of a hybrid vehicle

The advantages and disadvantages of hybrid systems are the same as for electric or internal
combustion engines, depending on which unit is working.

HYDROGEN BASED VEHICLES - are divided in two main groups: the ones using
hydrogen in fuel cells that produce electricity for an electric motor to power the car, and the
other ones that have modified internal combustion engines, that work with hydrogen.
Fuel cell vehicles use the principle of obtaining energy by the chemical reaction between
hydrogen and oxygen. The reaction products are water and the electricity, used then to power
the car. The basic working principle of the fuel cell can be seen in Figure 2. Cars that use
hydrogen as fuel for classic engines are also on the market.

Figure 2. Hydrogen fuel cell

Advantages obtained by using hydrogen: It assures good performances for the vehicle, and
also a low emission of greenhouse gases. A car using hydrogen does not necessary need oil
based fuels.

Disadvantages: Hydrogen is very flammable and burns into the air at a very wide range of
concentrations between 4% and 75% by volume, meaning high exposure to accidents. Fuel
tanks are also very sensitive to vibrations. The price of fuel cells is very high compared to
classic combustion systems. Another problem is the low number of hydrogen stations.
Hydrogen is produced in special plants using different methods. All these units use electricity
which is produced from renewable and non renewable energy sources.

THE REAL DRAWBACK - Despite significant drawbacks like high costs, low autonomy or
low performances the benefits of non conventional engines make sales grow very fast for this
segment of cars.
But the real and most dangerous disadvantage is the use of non pollutant cars powered with
electricity or hydrogen created using non renewable sources that generate greenhouse gases.

For example, an electric vehicle has zero emissions only if the electricity it uses comes from
hydropower, wind power, solar power or any other form of renewable energy. On the other
hand, even if electricity is „clean‟, if it is obtained by burning coal, natural gas or from any
other green house gas producing power plants, there is obtained no ecological advantage. This
generates confusion between the electricity in the batteries of electric vehicles, which is only a
state of energy conservation and real ecological energy. So it does not matter the type of the
car, but what degree of pollution the energy, with which the car works, has produced.
The conversion from the production process to the use of energy for vehicles is shown in
figure 3.
 Renewable Energy Electric
Sources vehicles
Hydropower, Wind
Power, Solar Energy

Electricity

Non Renewable Energy Sources

Fuel cell Hydrogen

Figure 3. Energy conversion from production to

CONCLUSION - Marketing strategies that involve care for environmental protection increase
the sales of cars that use non conventional engines. It is truth that most of them have a
positive impact over air pollution. Electricity is a clean solution for solving the environmental
problem. But this involves the condition that energy to be obtained from renewable sources
like wind power, hydropower or solar energy.

Non renewable energy sources, like fossil fuels burning or the nuclear power plants, only
move the emissions from cars to power plants. As an example, if a zero emission electric
vehicle has its batteries charged with electricity produced from non renewable energy, it
might cause more damage to the environment than an average car, even if the vehicle itself
really is an ecological energy consumer.

The conclusion is that there must be taken in consideration not only the final form of energy
conversion, but also all the effects of the previous steps of obtaining the energy.

REFERENCES

(1) Stan, C., “The automobile of the future: from resources, environment and policy to
interactive technics and global production ”, Ingineria Automobilului, Volume
Number 6, 2008